The Everything Air Fryer Cookbook: 300 Easy and Delicious Recipes for Your Favorite Foods!

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THE AIR FRYER COOKBOOK

Dear Reader,

My name is Michelle (holding up candle), and I’m a kitchen appliance junkie. Seriously, I have a rice cooker, Instant Pot®, dehydrator, slow cooker, sous vide machine, and now an air fryer. Although my rice cooker and slow cooker have been delegated to the back of the closet because the Instant Pot® can do their jobs, my air fryer is absolutely unique. I haven’t found another appliance that can pull off the crispy, crunchy magic that my new favorite appliance can achieve. But, shhhh, don’t tell the others. They think I love them all equally!

So, of course, my first trials were with French fries and chicken wings. There is only one word to describe the results, and that’s fantastic! I have baked both of these for years in my oven, and although tasty, these items not only cook quicker in the air fryer, but the exteriors are crisped all the way around. Because they are cooked in the metal mesh basket and the hot air circulates, the heat simultaneously cooks underneath as well as on top. I would absolutely suggest starting with some of these easier recipes just to get the hang of your appliance and to boost your confidence.

Your next step is to move on to recipes that will require accessories when cooking with your air fryer. Most brands have specific side accessories that you can purchase, but as long as a dish fits in your cooking basket and is oven safe, you can use small cooking pots, pans, and ceramic dishes that you may already have in your cabinets. With the right dish or accessory, small lasagnas, cakes, casseroles, and frittatas can be at your fingertips in under an hour!

If you’ve held fried foods at an arm’s length since you can’t even remember, then the air fryer is for you. You still get that crunch and breading from fried foods without the added grease, fat, calories, and yucky feeling after eating that type of junk food.

Happy eating,

Michelle Fagone

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Contents

Introduction

1 Air Fryer Essentials

What Is an Air Fryer?

When Purchasing an Air Fryer

Air Fryer Accessories

Oil and Your Air Fryer

Air Frying Tips

Cleaning and Seasoning Your Air Fryer

2 Breakfast

3 Breads and Baked Goods

4 Appetizers and Snacks

5 Chips and Fries

6 Poultry Main Dishes

7 Beef and Bison Main Dishes

8 Pork and Lamb Main Dishes

9 Fish and Seafood Main Dishes

10 Vegetarian and Vegan Dishes

11 Side Dishes

12 Sandwiches

13 One-Pot Wonders

14 Desserts

15 Sauces and Dips

Standard US/Metric Measurement Conversions

Photographs

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

To my two weird and fantastic girls, who are growing up way too fast: I wish you a life of good food and great love.

To my crazy and supportive husband: Thanks for making me laugh for over twenty years. Your dry, witty humor is the perfect yin to my slapstick and low-brow yang.

To my insane parents: Thanks for always loving me, taking my side, and keeping me right-ish.

Introduction

WE ALL KNOW THAT deep-fried foods are bad for us on so many levels, but there is something about that crunch that is so satisfying. The food is tasty, the meals are convenient, but really, inside and out, eating this way is not a lifestyle that our bodies can maintain.

Make the decision to choose fresher foods and to cook them in a healthier manner—with an air fryer! It’s true that the air fryer won’t produce an identical twin of a breaded, deep-fried food, but it comes really close. And instead of grease, you’ll be tasting the actual ingredients while still achieving the satisfying mouthfeel of crunchy foods.

The Everything® Air Fryer Cookbook will not only provide you with three hundred easy-to-follow, simple-to-prepare recipes, but it will also give you the tools you need to start preparing air-fried foods. And don’t think that all foods are battered and fried in this cookbook. You will essentially learn to air-bake muffins and cakes, such as Chocolate-Espresso Muffins and Confetti Cake; to air-roast chicken and vegetables, such as Salsa Chicken and Nutty Roasted Acorn Squash; and even to air-grill beef and seafood, such as Cowboy Flank Steak and Seared Sea Scallops.

By cooking in an air fryer you will be using a significantly lower amount of oil in the preparation of your food, but the heat will still give your food that crispiness on all sides. In addition, because air fryers have a quicker cooking time, more nutrients will stay intact. Since you can taste more of your actual food, you can start experimenting with herbs and seasonings to impart great flavor instead of relying solely on grease. Sure, there are some recipes in this book that call for bottled ingredients, but most such recipes have sidebars on how to make those ingredients from scratch, eliminating fillers and preservatives that are often needed to give those products a stable shelf life. And don’t forget to flip through Chapter 15 to find many quick and delicious homemade dips and sauces.

So, are you ready to dive in and learn to cook with this convenient appliance? Read on and start cooking delicious, healthier meals.

CHAPTER 1

Air Fryer Essentials

The air fryer is an easy, healthier alternative to conventional fryers and will quickly become your go-to appliance in your kitchen. The air fryer is so much more versatile than you might think—it’s not just useful for those French fries and onion rings! In fact, there’s an air-fried meal for almost every taste, diet, or mood from breakfast to desserts and everything in between. But before you get to cooking, you’ll need to know about your new appliance. This chapter will cover not only what an air fryer is and the benefits of using one, but also what to look for when purchasing an air fryer and tips on how to use and clean it.

What Is an Air Fryer?

Air fryers work by baking foods with a constant stream of hot air circulating around the food, cooking it evenly and quickly, crisping up edges as it does its job. An air fryer cooks foods quicker than a conventional oven; it doesn’t heat up your living space, and it is easy to clean. Although similar to a convection oven, an air fryer is smaller in size and convenient to place on the countertop. And while both these appliances use hot air and cook food from all angles, the air fryer utilizes Rapid Air Technology, circulating the heat with speed.

There are many reasons to give up traditionally cooked fried foods, which are prepared by submerging foods in heated oil. Fried foods are high in bad fats and calories. Also, when oil is heated beyond its smoke point—the temperature at which an oil begins to smoke, as with deep-frying—certain oils break down and produce toxic fumes and free radicals. In addition, deep-frying foods is just messy, with its splatter in your kitchen or even on you!

Using an air fryer is not only a better alternative for your health but for your safety as well. Unlike a traditional deep fryer, which can be a fire hazard and should be used with extreme caution, most air fryers have an auto-shut-off feature. Air fryers also offer quick and safe cooking so you don’t anguish over oil spills or cooking on an open flame.

The Benefits of Air Frying

In addition to the health benefits of air frying, you’ll find there are a few other benefits as well:

• It won’t heat up your whole house/apartment. When cooking casseroles or thicker cuts of meat, your traditional oven can warm up, providing a heat source that is not always welcomed, especially on those long, hot summer days. Apartment or efficiency dwellers with limited living space will appreciate the contained heat of the air fryer, which will keep their air conditioner from working overtime.

• It’s faster than your oven. Although it’s not as fast as a deep fat fryer, the air fryer has quicker cooking times than an oven due to the circulating heat. This is particularly nice for your busy family when your tribe is hungry. Instead of trying to calm your hangry (hungry + angry) crowd, reduce your cook time and get those bellies filled with quick and tasty recipes.

• It can help with picky eaters. Picky vegetable eaters or parents of picky vegetable eaters can find benefit in the transformative ways of the air fryer. A little breading and a fresh dip can turn zucchini into tasty fries. And a little cornflake breading on some cod can be the gateway recipe from fish sticks to a simple salmon fillet. So be creative and get everyone involved.

• It’s portable. A benefit of cooking in the air fryer is that it is contained. So for those hit-the-road, no-boundaries renegades, the air fryer is perfect in your Airstream when traveling from the biggest ball of twine to the awe-inspiring redwoods. No need to worry about splashing hot soup or cracklin’ bacon burning your skin. Use this handy appliance to heat up or prepare a quick and delicious meal while on the road.

• It works wonders on frozen foods. Students and folks looking for a quick snack can also benefit from the air fryer by cooking frozen foods. Yes, the microwave is faster, but it doesn’t create that crunchy exterior. The air fryer is great on frozen foods such as French fries, fish sticks, or egg rolls. As a general rule, cut the cooking time in half of what is recommended on the package. If more cooking time is needed, slowly increase the time by a minute or two so as to not overcook the final product.

When Purchasing an Air Fryer

Fortunately and unfortunately there are several brands, sizes, and shapes of air fryers. This book was based on a four-person air fryer with a 1-pound, 2.75 quart capacity and 1,425 watts, which is the typical middle-of-the-road size. There are larger models and there are smaller ones as well. Depending on your chosen model, the size of your food batches will vary, but cooking times should not be affected. Conveniently, until you find your groove with your appliance, you can just pull out your basket during the cooking process and check the results to view if the food needs extra cooking.

There are a variety of settings offered by the different models. Some of the newest types offer digital settings that allow the user to be in control of the temperature and time. Other models have analog dials as well as preset temperatures for a variety of fresh and frozen foods.

A meat thermometer is one of those fairly inexpensive kitchen gadgets that are well worth the price. You neither want to overcook nor undercook your meats. With the varying shapes and sizes of air fryers, being able to test the internal temperature of your steak, chicken, fish, pork, and other meats will help guarantee that your food will be cooked to perfection.

Because the air fryer basket is going to be used with most of your air-fried foods, finding a model with a basket that has a quick-release button is crucial and will make your life easier. This button helps release the mesh basket containing food from the bottom basket for easy shaking or flipping of the food, which is necessary when using this appliance.

Air Fryer Accessories

Most air fryers come with the basic fryer basket; however, there are many other recipes that can be made with the purchase of a few accessories, including a cake barrel, pizza pan, and even a skewer rack. But before you purchase any of these, check two things. One, make sure they work with your size and brand of air fryer. Most of the accessory packages fit models ranging from a 2.75-quart to a 5.8-quart air fryer. Two, check your cupboards, as you may already have some small, oven-safe dishes that will work in your new appliance.

Here are some of the common air fryer accessories:

• The Cake Barrel: The cake barrel accessory comes in both a round and a square version. This nonstick cake pan is used for desserts, casseroles, and egg dishes. And as a bonus both barrels have a handle, making retrieval from the appliance a cinch.

• The Grill Pan: The grill pan is a nonstick accessory that replaces the basket on the air fryer and is used for grilling fish, meat, and vegetables. The basket is removable from the handle, and the grill pan slides right in its place. Because there are no side walls, the pan allows for a bit more room. Also, with the perforated base, the airflow is able to cook underneath while still providing those beautiful grill lines.

• The Rack: This metal holder is a round metal rack that allows for a second layer of food in the air fryer. One nonconventional use is for cooking lightweight food like bacon, which tends to fly around with the airflow. You can turn your rack upside down on top of your bacon to hold it in place while cooking.

• The Pizza Pan: The pizza pan is a nonstick shallow pan that allows you to make mini pizzas as well as provides a flat surface for a variety of other recipes, such as biscuits, corn bread, Dutch pancakes, and even the delectable Giant Oatmeal Raisin Cookie for One found in the dessert chapter of this book!

• The Silicone Liners: Silicone cupcake liners or baking cups are oven safe and great for mini meatloaves, cupcakes, on-the-go frittatas, little quick breads, and muffins. They are reusable and dishwasher safe, making cleanup a snap!

• The Skewer Rack: The skewer rack contains four metal skewers, which can be used for meat and vegetable shish kebabs. With the food elevated slightly above the fry basket, the cooking time is shortened by allowing more room for the airflow to do its job. Just as you would do before outdoor grilling, if you only have wooden skewers, be sure to soak them in water for about 30 minutes prior to cooking, to avoid burning.

Accessory Removal

Cooking with a pot in an appliance is a great idea until it’s time to remove the inserted cooking dish. Because of the tight space, it is almost impossible to use thick oven mitts to reach down and grip the pot evenly without tipping one side of the cooking vessel and spilling the cooked food. There are a few ways around this:

1. Wooden or silicone-tipped tongs are a good purchase for air frying. Because most air fryer baskets and accessories have a nonstick surface, a good pair of nonmetal tongs are recommended for helping to flip those larger food items, such as egg rolls, that don’t benefit from just a quick shake of the basket, as is the case with most fries and chips.

2. Heat-resistant mini mitts or pinch mitts are small, food-grade silicone oven mitts and are especially helpful when lifting pots, racks, and barrels out of an air fryer after the cooking process. They are more heat resistant and less cumbersome than traditional oven mitts, which can prove to be bulky in the tight fryer basket.

Creating an aluminum-foil sling is a quick, inexpensive, homemade fix to the problem of lifting a heated dish out of an air fryer. Take a 10 × 10 square of aluminum foil and fold it until you have a 2 × 10 sling. Place this sling underneath the bowl or pan before cooking so that you can easily lift up the heated dish.

Oil and Your Air Fryer

One of the main and obvious benefits when first deciding to purchase an air fryer is the fact that you no longer want to consume deep-fried foods, whether for health purposes or weight issues. But oil and butter are still used in some air frying, just not to the extent that deep-frying calls for. Some recipes in this book will advise to lightly grease a pan. Because this seems to be such a personal choice in this day and age, use your preferred method and oil type.

If you want to cut back on the oil even more, instead of giving your basket a light spray or brush of oil, simply cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of the bottom of your basket. It will help keep the batter or other ingredient on your items without adding additional calories.

And although your grill basket is most likely of the nonstick variety, a light spritz or brush of oil directly on the basket is necessary with some foods, as indicated in the recipes. Try to avoid using commercial nonstick sprays, as they may contain chemicals that can cause your basket to get sticky or start to flake. True oils and butter, without additives, yield better results.

To avoid heavy drizzling of oil on your food, purchase one of the many types of misters, sprayers, and spritzers in which you can use your oil of choice to lightly spray onto foods to encourage browning and crisping. Many prefer this to commercial spray oil, which may contain chemicals and preservatives that may have a denigrating effect on the nonstick components and accessories of your air fryer.

A basting or silicone pastry brush uses more oil than a sprayer does but is helpful on certain dishes that require a brush of melted butter on the dough or breaded food, such as phyllo tarts or biscuits.

For a cheap fix, grab the bigger unused paintbrush out of your kids’ multipack of paintbrushes. Or if you have one of those cheap sponge brushes used in painting (unused, of course!), that works too. And if you’ve exhausted those options and are still at an impasse, fold a paper towel in half. Tightly roll the paper towel into a small tube. Using scissors, cut up about 2" several times on one end to create a small mop. There you go—brush away!

Air Frying Tips

Although the air fryer is an easy appliance to use, there is always a learning curve associated with any new cooking method. The first rule is that you shouldn’t overcrowd your fryer basket. Most foods will have to be cooked in batches to yield the best crunch. You will also have to take this into consideration when purchasing your air fryer. How big is your family? How large are the batches that you’ll be preparing? The larger the air fryer capacity, the larger the batches, and the quicker the results.

Once the batches are in the air fryer, it is essential to flip or shake the food at least once or more during the cooking process. This will ensure that the circulating air will touch all sides of the food. After the first flip, some foods, especially those that need to be browned, may need a brush or spritz of oil or butter. That’s right: although you are giving up the deep-frying oil, a fraction is required for maximum crispiness.

The recipes in this book usually suggest a preheat time of 3 minutes. Some models require 5 minutes. Check your user manual to determine the best time for yours. Although some brands claim you don’t need to preheat, skipping this step can alter cooking times. Preheating allows the unit to heat up to the required temperature, which allows the cooking time to be accurate.

Smoke and Your Air Fryer

Some fattier cuts of meat, like bacon or marbled steaks, will render fat when cooking. This can create white smoke and can be eliminated by adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of water in the fryer drawer prior to cooking. If it happens in the middle of your cooking time and you didn’t anticipate smoke, simply open the drawer and add needed water. If there is black smoke present, unplug the machine and determine the culprit, as food could have attached itself to the heating element, causing the smoke. Remove the rogue food immediately, clean, and continue cooking.

Sweat the Small Stuff!

Air frying isn’t just about the frying, or even the baking, roasting, and grilling. It’s about the small stuff too. Before garnishing an Asian stir-fry with cashews, give them a quick toss in sesame oil and air-fry them for a surprising flavorful crunch. Before enjoying a fresh tomato soup, make some quick Grilled Cheese Croutons to create big smiles. Toast pine nuts for another dimension of flavor before pulsing them into a fresh pesto. The air fryer is one of those appliances that will not only feel right at home on your countertop but will not collect dust waiting to be used. And one more quick tip: hard-boiled eggs can be made in 15 minutes without breaks from bumping around in boiling water. Yes, that’s right. Check out the recipe in Chapter 2. That extra protein added to a Cobb salad, on-the-go bite, or even a few luscious deviled eggs will lift your mood without dirtying up dishes!

Cleaning and Seasoning Your Air Fryer

After using your air fryer, unplug the appliance and allow it to completely cool. Adding cooler water to a hot fryer basket can cause warping. Although the removable parts are dishwasher safe, some people suggest washing the parts by hand with warm, soapy water to lengthen the life of those nonstick, coated parts. Wipe down and remove excess fat or oil from the warming drawer and nonremovable parts, inside and out, with hot water and a dishcloth or kitchen sponge.

Also, once dry, the basket can be seasoned. Oftentimes you only hear about this term with cast-iron pans, but the air fryer basket can also benefit from seasoning. Place your air fryer basket in the appliance and heat for 5 minutes at 400°F. Remove the basket and, when cool enough to touch, simply spread a thin layer of coconut oil on your basket using a paper towel. Heat the basket in the appliance for an additional 2 minutes. This will help extend the life of the nonstick coating on the basket.

CHAPTER 2

Breakfast

Pork Sausage Patties

Spicy Scotch Eggs